Essex Region Source Protection Area - Proposed Source Protection Plan

Updated Source Protection Plan

The Updated Source Protection Plan has been released for public consultation.

The goal of the Source Protection Plan is to manage or eliminate existing or future activities that are, or could become, significant threats. Threats have been identified through the technical and scientific work outlined in our Assessment Reports. The plan looks at the best way we, as a community, can protect our sources of municipal drinking water now and in the future.

The Proposed Source Protection Plan for the Essex Region was submitted to the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) in 2012. The MOE conducted a comprehensive review of all the proposed plans from across the province and provided comments on the plans, and these comments have been reviewed and incorporated into the revisions.

Updates and Amendments to the Updated Source Protection Plan and Assessment Report

In addition to making the required amendments, the Essex Region Source Protection Committee updated the SPP and Assessment Report to include the following:

New technical work for the updated Assessment Report resulted in the identification of new vulnerable areas which were added to all existing fuel policies;

The Essex Region SPC determined that microcystin-LR is a Drinking Water Issue at Lake Erie intakes and new policies have been written for continued and/or improved environmental monitoring and education and outreach;

A new policy was added requiring Risk Management Plans for the storage of hazardous waste or liquid industrial waste at sites that are not subject to an Environmental Compliance Approval and;

New phrasing for the policy on the transportation of fuels to make policies consistent across the province